Your fav unsung work: sharing why

[chill319]

Oh, Enescu may be unsung but in my house he's one of the greats.  But his compositions tend to the modern. For example, his Impressions d'enfance contains extended passages that would have sounded new had they been written in the 1970s or 80s.

[sdtom]

I'm glad that I discovered him even though it took me a long time. I tend to agree with you as far as the modernism is concerned.
Tom

[Alan Howe]

In this respect, Enescu is like other composers of the same generation such as Szymanowski, Bloch (and, I suppose, Vaughan Williams) who began their composing careers under the influence of the late romantics (hence their inclusion here) and then went on to develop more modern idioms, often influenced by ethnic or folk music.   

[terry martyn]

I have two intrusive (and very expensive) Spanish cleaners in at the moment.  I think I have found a way to drive them out from under my feet. I am playing the whole of Lachner's Fifth on full volume!

[Alan Howe]

¿Qué? From Barcelona?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6CKSW9I1cA

[Ilja]

To get back to the question of this thread, I have been pondering this question and although my musical preferences tend to shift rather often, there is one particular recording that over the years I have come back to again and again, and don't play too often for fear of "spoiling" my joy in hearing it again – and that is Hans Huber's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D major of 1899.

From the slow buildup towards the lush orchestral textures in the development section of the first movement, via a light-footed scherzo and a gorgeous adagio it concludes with a glorious, rhythmically complex finale. Much of it feels more like a symphony with piano obbligato part a la Gade 5, but that makes it all the more effective when the piano does take a more prominent role. Somehow, the work manages to combine a certain feeling of fin-de-siecle, languid decadence while maintaining a lively energy, and I love it for it.

Of course, I won't pretend that it is some barn-storming revolutionary work. Rather, I think it is an example of the refinement that comes from being part of, and integrating, long-standing musical tradition. And it's probably the piece that, through the twenty years I know it, I have most consistently enjoyed. It helps that the single commercial recording of the work by Dan Franklin Smith, with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker under Michail Jurowski, is a fine one.

[Maury]

Tough question.

If Unsung Works by a very slightly Sung composer are permitted then probably the Scriabin Sym 3. (What I see on bachtrack are always a few performances of  L'Extase and the Piano Concerto in f# with a few brief piano works thrown offhand  into a piano recital.) All Scriabin's numbered symphonies are magnificent and original.I'm sure they are standard repertoire in some alternate universe, unfortunately not this one.

If really really Unsung are required, then I will go with Goldmark's opera Die Koenigen von Saba. A really lovely tuneful opera with very few weak spots. Again should be standard repertoire.

[Ilja]

I think Scriabin's Third is on the edge of "sung-ness". The composer is of course well-known enough and I've seen the work itself twice in concert. However, I have the impression that he's not as often played in the German lands and the UK (where Scriabin's voluptuous decadence has never really gone down well).

Personally, I have a soft spot for the Second, which is the most restrained (relatively speaking) of the symphonies.

[Maury]

I indicated my choice would be Die Koenigen von Saba if there were any objection to Scriabin. But your comment interested me. Scriabin is certainly not played in the US (always excepting L'Extase which I would characterize as fringe repertoire ) and I certainly take your word he is not much programmed in the UK and Germany. Despite Muti I don't think Scriabin is much thought of in Italy. So apart from Russia where is he programmed? Looking again at bachtrack I saw one performance of Sym 2 in Paris (Karabits) and one performance of Prometheus in Berlin. Everything else orchestral was L'Extase. May I ask where you saw the two performances of Sym 3 and the time between them? Was it in the Netherlands? Is there a fan base there?

[Alan Howe]

Although I could make a case for each of Rufinatscha 5 (formerly 6), Raff 3 or Draeseke 3, my vote would have to go to Thieriot's Symphony No.5 in C sharp minor - one of the last great representatives of the generation of Brahms, Raff, Draeseke and Bruckner, still writing symphonies in the early 20th century!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSuKduRk_Ic

[eschiss1]

Scriabin: Also the piano concerto in Atlanta in March 2025; Prometheus -was- performed in Boston back on July 26 '24. Symphony no.1, according to Operabase, was performed at the Bard Festival, Aug 14. 2022, but they, anyway, don't list a more recent US performance.

As to Huber: Operabase lists an upcoming performance of the Tell-Symphony in 2 days (28/9/2024) in Andermatt, Switzerland. There was also one on August 1 in Berne.

By our standards Stenhammar's 2nd symphony is almost sung, but there are several live performances of it in 2025, including one in London.

[Ilja]

Yes Eric, as to Huber's Tell Symphony I had planned to visit the Andermatt performance but it was just too expensive (both the journey and, amazingly enough, the ticket). Plus, to be honest, I don't really think it's Huber's best symphony by quite a long stretch.

[Alan Howe]

Hi Eric,

Could you send us a link to the Stenhammar performance next year in London. please?

[Hector]

Viotti Violin Concerto No 22 springs to mind. This was the first 'unsung' piece that alerted me to the fact that many of the best compositions by less well known composers are better than some of the compositions of the famous ones. Is it my favourite? That's impossible to answer, but for the purposes of this thread it will do well.

The pathos and drama of Viotti 22 are marvellous, way more interesting in my estimation than Mozart's oft played violin concertos. The Lola Bobesco recording is my favourite.

https://youtu.be/e9IZSTn2N3U?si=lpFrFEIseJsbOPb3

[Alan Howe]

Mozart's VCs are, of course very early. He never wrote a mature VC, although the version of his late Clarinet Concerto for viola gives us a clue what one might have sounded like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYRbCoc4vRs   (slow movement)

There is, of course, his magnificent Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola.